Guest Blogger - The Von Pip Musical Express

And so as the summer and festival season comes to an end, it’s hard to believe there are now just 113-shopping days left before it’s Christmas once more! Maybe it’s not quite time to start compiling your albums of the year list just yet, for September normally heralds the start of some frenzied activity on the album release front after the familiar slowdown during the summer months.



One of the perks of blogging is that you often receive promo copies of albums months in advance of their official release. So I can state, with some degree of confidence that there should be something for everybody to look forward to in the coming months.



Ladytron return with their fifth studio album, Gravity The Seducer (12th September) which finds them at their imperious best and features a mesmerising mix of glacial choral vocals, sinister, symphonic synths and relentless driving beats.



Manchester electro-indie trio The Whip’s much anticipated sophomore album Wired Together (19th September) sees the band embrace a more upbeat sound which may even have even induced Sir Douglas Bader to shake a leg on the dancefloor.



Dum Dum Girls return with their second album Only In Dreams (September 27th) and prove that head honcho Dee-Dee is a songwriter of real depth and talent. This time around the band get the full studio treatement courtesy of legendary producer Richard Gotterer and The Raveonettes’ Sune Rose Wagner. At the risk of being accused of indulging in hyperbole it’s my opinion that in any right thinking society this album will be one day viewed as a classic.



It’s quite simply a stunning collection of songs, fusing the girl group sound of yore with a modern twist whilst expanding the template set down on their lo-fi debut I Will Be to produce a mature, sophisticated and on occasion epic sound. It will be there or there about in the album of the year stakes without a doubt.



There’s also the gritty, romantic realism of Prince Edward Island who’s debut album has just been released. This Day Is A Good Enough Day is a real gem, full of twisted wit, wisdom, and sardonic observation which engages the listener from start to finish.



Keith Top Of The Pops & His Minor UK Indie Celebrity All-Star Backing Band have also released their ‘accidental debut ‘ album – the somewhat belligerently titled F*** You I’m Keith Top Of The Pops and features the likes of Art Brut’s Eddie Argos, Chris Cain from We Are Scientists and Jim Bob from Carter USM. It also includes the factually correct tour de- force that is Two Of The Beatles Are Dead and contains the immortal line ‘If you don’t count Stuart Sutcliffe or the original Paul, then two of the Beatles are dead'.



However the icing on my pre Christmas cake isn’t from some fresh faced whipper snappers, but instead from a band I have loved admired and revered since I was a first became interested in music. It comes in the leather clad shape of The Jesus And Mary Chain whose six studio albums are being reissued as rather wonderful deluxe double albums, each one contains a glossy multi-page booklet with new interviews and photos two CDs and a DVD.



So much better than an admittedly convenient, yet ultimately rather faceless, soulless mp3 download don’t you think?



Oh and I almost forgot, national treasure and jazz hands aficionado John Barrowman makes his bid for the Guinness Book Of Records , as he releases one can safely assume from the title, will be the world’s shortest album Tonight's The Night - The Very Best Of John Barrowman – You have been warned ;)



And there you have it, another summer is almost at an end but I hope you agree there is much to look forward to in the coming months to warm the cockles of your heart and provide musical sustenance as autumn and winter advance.

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Many thanks to Andy - for more from him, and The Von Pip Musical Express visit the site.